Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

ROOT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Root from $90.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Root from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Root from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Root from $104.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Root from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.60.

Root Trading Up 3.4%

ROOT opened at $56.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $885.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 2.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.81. Root has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $162.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Root (NASDAQ:ROOT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $1.25. The firm had revenue of $393.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $398.16 million. Root had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Root will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Root during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Root by 511.7% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 734 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Root during the 3rd quarter worth about $144,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Root by 237.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in Root during the 3rd quarter worth about $194,000. Institutional investors own 59.82% of the company’s stock.

Key Root News

Here are the key news stories impacting Root this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat — Root reported $2.09 EPS vs. $0.84 consensus and revenue up 12.5% YoY; solid profitability metrics and management commentary support the rally. MarketBeat Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Refinancing and share repurchase — Root announced a refinancing that lowers its cost of capital and a $75 million buyback authorization (and separately secured a $200M senior secured term loan), which reduces financing risk and signals management confidence. GlobeNewswire Release
• Positive Sentiment: New term loan and repurchase authorization coverage — reporting on the $200M senior secured term loan led by Huntington and the board’s repurchase plan reinforces the refinancing story. TipRanks: Term Loan & Repurchase
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst action — Wells Fargo raised its price target from $52 to $58 but kept an “equal weight” rating (mixed signal: slightly higher valuation but no upgrade to buy). Benzinga: Wells Fargo PT Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript available — useful for hearing management’s guidance and margin drivers but not new news by itself. Seeking Alpha Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Third?party comparisons and sector coverage — analyst/compare pieces (e.g., RLI vs. Root) circulated but are background context rather than immediate catalysts. American Banking News Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Unrelated cybersecurity headline mentioning “root access” is not connected to Root, Inc.; investors should treat it as noise. MSN: cPanel Vulnerability

Root Company Profile

Root, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker ROOT, is a Columbus, Ohio–based insurance company that leverages mobile technology and data analytics to offer personalized auto insurance policies. Founded in 2015 by Alex Timm and Dan Manges, Root set out to transform traditional underwriting by focusing on individual driving behavior rather than broad demographic factors.

The company’s core product is usage-based auto insurance, delivered through a smartphone app that monitors driving patterns such as speed, braking and phone usage behind the wheel.